Download Camp Tulelake - National Park Service History

Camp Tulelake
World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument,
Tule Lake Unit
PO Box 1240
Tulelake, California 96134
Introduction
Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, Camp Tulelake
operated until 1942, housing at least four different companies of
men. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program was one part
of the "New Deal" legislation designed to ease the effects of the
Great Depression by putting young men between the ages of 18-25
back to work. The program sought to teach these men new skills
that would help them find employment at the end of their period of
enlistment, as well as instill in them a sense of army discipline.
Following the United State's entry in World War II, the program
ended, and most men enlisted in the army. During the war, the
camp found other uses; persons of Japanese ancestry from the Tule
Lake Segregation Center (commonly known as a Japanese American
Internment camp) and German prisoners of war alike would briefly
make Camp Tulelake their home. At the conclusion of World War
II, the Fish and Wildlife Service used the buildings as a sign shop for
the Pacific region until the mid 1970s. The camp lay vacant and
deteriorating until 2006 when the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge
Association successfully applied for a grant to preserve the camp
before it was too late. Volunteer efforts by the Klamath Basin
Wildlife Refuge Association and the Lava Beds Natural History
Association stabilized part of the remaining barracks building.
Camp Tulelake became a part of the Tule Lake Unit of World War II
Valor in Pacific National Monument in 2008, and the National Park
Service continues to work in partnership with Fish and Wildlife
Service to continue preservation and interpretation efforts.
Historic Camp Layout
The buildings photographed below are identified by shading on the
historic camp map shown on the previous page.
The Civilian Conservation Corps stands as one of the best examples of
inter-governmental cooperation. The US Army maintained day-today discipline in the camps, while the men did a variety of work for
agencies including the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife and
the Bureau of Reclamation. Throughout the camp's use, this area
would have been an open courtyard. Here, men would have reported
for inspections and also drilled on Saturday afternoons. Army
discipline was a central tenant of the camps, and enlisted men could
move up in the CCC ranks. The building (below, left) served as the
officer's quarters for the army officers assigned to run the camp;
today, a large mound marks the location of these quarters, as seen
above.
Men enlisted in the CCC received all meals and medical care at no
extra cost. Food was not fancy, but plentiful and often better than
what they had to eat in their home communities. During the Great
Depression, many families could not afford to feed themselves. Men
often sacrificed their own portions to help feed their wives, children
or parents. Having three large meals a day, then, was a welcome
change for many men coming to the CCC camps. Some goods were
shipped in monthly, but most of the food, particularly fresh meat
and vegetables were purchased locally. Not only did this provide
better quality meals, but it also assisted the local economy. Meals
for holidays like Thanksgiving were extra special, leaving many men
to wish that "Thanksgiving would come more often." Beyond the
mess hall would have been a hospital unit, which no longer stands
today. A camp doctor provided basic care, including routine
vaccinations. A dentist would have also regularly visited the camp.
Men enlisted in the CCC slept in army barracks in a seemingly endless
line of cots. A CCC company typically consisted of about 200 men
who would have been divided between the three u-shaped barracks.
The fourth u-shaped barracks on the map served as the education and
recreation building. The army provided beds, linens and uniforms for
all enlisted men, and they were expected to adhere to army standards.
Men had little opportunity for privacy, and the barracks were
inspected for cleanliness each day. One Saturday per month, the men
spent up to four hours thoroughly cleaning their home, even airing the
mattresses.
CCC men began their days with a wakeup call as early as 5am.
Following breakfast and inspection, the men would have departed
for their work projects. Work projects included road building,
stone wall and building construction, soil and game monitoring and
other tasks. For their work, men earned $1 per day or about $30
per month. Men received $5 as personal spending money, while
the remaining $25 went to support the man's family. Those who
had no family were required to place the money in a savings
account to help support them after they left the CCC. This practice
helped spread around the economic benefits; $25 went to
communities all over the country to help improve conditions for
families, while
the CCC men
took their
spending
money to local
communities,
supporting
their
economies.
Daily Schedule
5am: Wakeup call
6am: Breakfast
7am: Inspection & Load trucks for work
7:30am-4pm: Work Project
4pm: Return to camp and prepare for evening activities
5pm: Evening Flag ceremony
6pm: Dinner
7-lights out: Recreation and Education activities
After a long day of work, men enlisted in the CCC had time to relax.
Inside the recreation building, men enjoyed card games or
entertained each other with skits and music. The CCC also offered
weekend truck service to Klamath Falls, where men could see a
movie, shop or even date local girls. A few even met their wives this
way! Attached to the recreation building was the education
building. A main goal of the CCC was to teach men the skills they
needed to successfully apply for jobs elsewhere after their six month
enlistment periods. As many men did not have beyond a grade
school education, many courses focused on academic subjects, like
math and reading. Courses also included practical skills such as
welding, diesel engine repair, typing and first aid. If the curriculum
did not offer a
particular skill
or course
needed for
advancement,
men could
request that it
be added.
This building served as a garage, workshop and storage space. The
camp newspaper proudly notes the installation of "truck pullers" on
the camp trucks, which would allow vehicles to be pulled from the
burning building without requiring men to enter. The garage and
workshop area are some of our most fragile buildings today; recent
harsh winters have sped up the deterioration process considerably.
Inside the building, you can still see the concrete slabs for the
garage, as well as assorted signage.
The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered
World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor shocked and frightened
Americans, but also caused a surge of patriotic feeling. The war
effort mobilized all Americans to assist in the war effort by
working in defense plants, joining the military or simply making
sacrifices in their daily lives. Men in the CCC were swept up in the
war as well, and many left to join the armed forces. By early 1942,
the number of CCC
enrollees dwindled,
and in mid 1942 the
program ended as
there were not enough
men to work on the
projects. Those still in
the CCC when the
program ended
quickly found work in
defense plants or
enlisted in the armed
forces. The legacy of
the CCC lives on in
some of the many
work projects they
accomplished, as
pictured.
The events at Pearl Harbor created another surge of strong
feelings, this time against the Japanese Americans. Many
Americans believed that the Japanese Americans whose features
and culture seemed alien to them were in fact agents of the
Japanese government. Others, envious of Japanese Americans
material success, sought a way to undermine Japanese American
farms and small businesses. Following pressure from residents,
politicians and the military on the West Coast, President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This order stated
that a military commander could declare military areas from
which civilians could be excluded. California, along with parts of
Arizona, Oregon and Washington became Military Area #1; all
persons of Japanese ancestry were excluded. Japanese American
families received evacuation orders, which ordered them to report
to an assembly center where they were assigned to a Relocation
Center..
The Tule Lake Relocation Center (later, the Tule Lake Segregation
Center), built approximately 10 miles outside of Tulelake in
present day Newell, and did not use any of the facilities from the
CCC camp at Camp Tulelake. However, in 1943, Japanese
Americans who refused to answer a loyalty questionnaire were
held at Camp Tulelake for about 30 days. During this time, they
improved camp infrastructure before being transferred back to the
Tule Lake Segregation Center.
Later in 1943, Japanese American internees working on the camp
farm went on strike to protest a truck accident. The accident, which
killed the driver and injured five others, angered the incarcerated
population, many of whom felt that poor maintenance caused the
accident. They began a work stoppage until safety measures
improved. Concerned that the crops might be lost if not immediately
harvested and preferring not to negotiate with the strikers, camp
directors brought in Japanese American internees from other camps
to harvest the crops. These strikebreakers earned $1 per hour, easily
making in two days what a Tule Lake worker earned in a month. To
protect the strikebreakers from the anger of the striking population
at the Tule Lake Relocation Center, the strikebreakers were housed at
Camp Tulelake.
Prisoners of War at Camp Tulelake
The Klamath Basin economy was almost entirely based on
farming, and by 1944, the area farmers faced a labor crisis. Most
men who could have been hired to harvest crops had been sent to
war, and due to the labor shortage, most migrant workers did
not need to travel as far north as Tulelake to find work. The
farmers petitioned the government for help. In response, the
government converted Camp Tulelake to a Prisoner of War
(POW) camp. 150 Italian prisoners made some changes to the
existing camp, including adding four guard towers. Beginning in
June, German POWs would live in the camp for the next 18
months, helping farmers through two growing seasons. At its
peak, the camp held 800 German POWs, who were essential to
the harvest. Most of them proved to be hard and willing workers
and formed close friendships with local farmers.
After World War II
World War II ended in 1945 and by 1946, all German POWs
returned to Germany. The camp would not be vacant long,
though. In 1958, the US Fish and Wildlife Service established a
sign shop for the Pacific region in the remaining buildings. Safety
reminders painted on the wall are a clear reminder of this period
of the camp's life today. The mess hall was converted to housing
for seasonal employees during the 1960s. In 1975, the Fish and
Wildlife Service closed the sign shop, tore down a few buildings,
moved a few others and left behind the buildings seen today.
Camp Tulelake lay vacant until 2006.
Working through a Preserve America's
History grant in 2006, the Klamath
Basin Wildlife Refuge Association and
• the Lava Beds Natural History
Association, volunteer groups, worked
to stabilize the wing of the barrack
open to the public today. Through the
continued efforts of the National Park
Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service
and through the support and service of
our volunteer groups, we hope to
extend our stabilization and
preservation efforts to the remaining
buildings. In doing so, we will honor
the legacy of the CCC to conserve our
resources and our own mission to preserve and protect.
Your comments are important to us! Please help us shape the future of the Tule Lake
National Monument by writing comments below. Either return the card to a ranger or
simply fold it in half, tape it shut and place it in the mail.
Tule Lake Unit
World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument
PO Box 1240
Tulelake, CA 96134